Health experts constantly remind the public about the importance of dental care to a person’s overall health. Your mouth serves as the window to your total wellness. Like all oral health providers, Dr. Patrice A. Barber and her staff at Alliance Family Dental in Fayetteville, NC can provide your oral care needs to promote good health.

Thanks to efforts by health experts, people are now aware that how they care of their teeth can determine the state of their overall health. While regular dental visits are advised to ensure good oral health, some people don’t see a dentist until they can no longer ignore a dental problem. One of the most common issues associated with dental visits is toothache. Some people could not stand any kind of physical discomfort, and a toothache may be a serious matter for someone who has a low threshold for pain. But what exactly is a toothache?

Toothache refers to pain around the teeth or jaw. This pain is often associated with tooth decay and dental cavities, but it can also be caused by other problems like gum diseases, dental abscess, cracked teeth, sensitive teeth, and even an emerging tooth.

In rare cases, a toothache can also be caused by problems in the jaw joint, which is also known as the temporo-mandibular joint (TMJ). Regardless of the source, a toothache can be anything from mild to totally excruciating. It can also be aggravated by chewing or eating hard food, or by drinking cold or hot water. Dr. Barber at Alliance Family Dental can help alleviate the pain with proper treatment and medication.

Toothache may also be caused by problems that are totally unrelated to the mouth or the jawbone. For example, serious diseases like angina or heart attack may also trigger toothache, while ear infections and sinuses can also produce the same effect. Individuals experiencing toothache along with at least two other symptoms linked to these problems are required to visit both a general health expert and a dentist.

Regardless of the cause, Dr. Barber and her staff at Family Alliance Dental in Fayetteville, NC can provide you with immediate relief from toothache. It may seem to be nothing more than a slight inconvenience, but neglecting it can potentially lead to more serious complications like blood poisoning. However, it may have far more serious causes which do not originate from the tooth or jaw. A visit to Dr. Barber could help prevent major health problems from causing more damage.